Nope, got plenty of cisco gear at work, not in my price range for home network.
All of my Cisco gear came from work. I do get a "good deal" on it, but if you look online (ebay) for commercial surplus, think <10% of what these switches cost originally. I just checked and a 2950X can be had for under $100.
What I have does POE (by far much cheaper than buying any 24-port POE switch I could find new) and would handle fiber modules. Switch is on battery backup, as is all this equipment. If I lose power, I don't lose security monitoring. They even have POE powered "hubs" so you can get a few more powered ports at a remote location out of one Cisco POE port.
Course, you have to struggle through "speaking Cisco" or have a friend that does... But it's a one time deal in most cases.
If you wanted to hide it in a stud cavity, I'd probably just get a fiber to CAT6 module and put in an access panel.
Why not install a simple wall-mount rack in the basement and centralize there? If it'll run in my Texas closet, I'm sure it'll run in your basement just fine...